Date: 10/30/26 1:33 pm From: David Yee via SJBirds <birdmanyee...> Subject: [SJBirds] The 30th Central Valley Birding Symposium (CVBS) is next month
Dear Local Birders and SJ Audubon Members:
The CVBS will be celebrating its 30th anniversary next month, Nov 19-22 at the Stockton Hilton. The CVBS serves as the annual meeting of the Central Valley Bird Club (CVBC), also in its 30th year. The website with the schedule and registration information is https://cvbs.regfox.com/26.
Thirty years is a long time ago, and many of you might not know that the CVBS was the brainchild of several San Joaquin Audubon members, and SJA was the driving force behind the early years of its development. The vision was to establish an event that could hopefully unify the various Audubon Chapters and conservation organizations within the Central Valley. California Audubon was being established that very year (1997) and was very involved in the initial meetings. And so was the city of Stockton.
Today the CVBS/CVBC is its own entity, but the vision remains the same; highlighting the avian wonders of the Central Valley and partnering with local conservation organizations. And while the initial thought was to move the event up and down the Valley, Stockton and San Joaquin County for now has been its home base. If you have never attended, or it's been a while, take advantage of a local event that has many attending from out of the area annually white staying at the Hilton. There are half-day and one day options.
To celebrate our 30th, our two keynote speakers have their roots in the Central Valley, but from very different stages of their lives. Nationally acclaimed bird illustrator and author, Keith Hansen, will share a lively program with lots of striking visuals of his life-long fascination with all things avian starting from his early years in Fresno to his current life in Marin County, the location of his amazing art gallery. Our second keynote will be Mackenzie Hollender, a highschool senior from Sacramento, who is just starting her career in bird study and conservation. Mackenzie was awarded 2026 American Birding Association Young Birder of the Year for her field sketching abilities and her conservation work in Sacramento. Her program will highlight how her love for birds inspired her to protect 8,000 acres of open space in the Natomas area of Sacramento. Mackenzie is obviously mature beyond her years, with a vibrant and engaging personality. Her future is bright.
I would like to highlight two additional programs. The Bird ID Panel on Friday afternoon is an amazing teaching time when it comes to learning about bird identification. A panel of top birders will be presented with bird photos whose identification is already known by the presenter. The photos will be of birds difficult to ID, or they will reveal only a portion of the bird, as is often the case in real life. We then get to hear the thought processes used by the panel to ID the bird. It's so instructive. The other program is the Specimen Workshop on Saturday afternoon. Andy Engilis, who is the curator at the UC Davis Museum of Natural History will bring a select group of specimens for us to study and appreciate. He and his staff will place specimens of bird groups and families side by side that are notoriously difficult to separate, and they will then go over what to look for when you have them in your hands!! This is a rare and unique opportunity, as most museums never allow their precious collections to be open to the public in this fashion.
Finally, there are always wonderful artists and vendors on display. And visiting them is free at the Stockton Hilton on Nov 20-21. In particular, there will be Out of this World Optics from Mendocino present. They will have a full complement of binoculars, spotting scopes and tripods of all brands at every price range on hand at discounted prices.
Hope to see you in November! If you have any questions, please contact me, or be in touch with Katie in registration (contact info on the website).
Happy Fall Birding, David Yee Stockton CVBS Chair 209-329-5490 <(209)%20329-5490>
